Work Choice Dilemma

[213e90n51]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Well this has been a fun read. I would also recommend a trade job as they pay well and it is good work. Doesn't seem like you are cut out for school based on your comments (unless someone else is paying for it).

Is it to late to start trade school at 21 or work at a trade ?

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

palm air hammer... Sounds like a Homer Simpson invention. I hope it works!

Its true tho, desk jobs and trades jobs don't overlap very well. Swinging a hammer is more about technique than strength, and that only comes with experience.

As mentioned, keep your mind open to try different jobs and try to network with friends / family if possible. You never know, some buddy's workplace may be looking for someone and you would never hear about it.

Agree with most everything stated here aside from the overlap of job skills. Skills are skills. A master of his craft knows when to deploy these skills whether it's part of their job responsibility or not.

One of my favorite quotes - "A man who does more work than what he gets paid to do, will soon be paid more than what work he does."

I'm a Project Coordinator and only in my position because of prior hands on knowledge. I have no degree. Guess who gets called when the maintenance guys or engineers/"educated" employees can't get something to work properly? 98% of the time, it's a simple matter of taking a few minutes to observe and understand the process. So few do this and everyone thinks they are not that guy (or gal). Think of it this way, how many times have you salted french fries without tasting them first? Most everyone wants to offer solutions without doing a little discovery first.

I keep trying to get them to change my title to Local Hero or Resident Genius.

Originally Posted by JP10

Disagree in regards to what I put in bold. Some of the best engineers in Naval Shipbuilding came from the deckplates. Those who just have a degree usually fail when it comes to designing something practical for use. I'd prefer a PM with deckplate knowledge over a PM with a strict engineering background.

This.

Originally Posted by 213e90n51

Is it to late to start trade school at 21 or work at a trade ?

Absolutely not. My oldest son is 21 and is currently taking auto-body to learn how to paint cars.

[freakystyly]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

Skills are skills. A master of his craft knows when to deploy these skills whether it's part of their job responsibility or not.

Yeah, I meant it in an unrelated field. Like a computer programmer doesn't need to know how to grade the soil in a building complex.

I moved from the shop to office without a degree and without that knowledge I would be more lost than I already am.

Plenty of people re-train careers into their 30s - 40s, age is just a number. Even my grandpa took an auto mechanic course at the college in his 70s. As long as you have a good work ethic and show up every day, you're already doing better than a lot of people.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

Yeah, I meant it in an unrelated field. Like a computer programmer doesn't need to know how to grade the soil in a building complex.

I moved from the shop to office without a degree and without that knowledge I would be more lost than I already am.

Plenty of people re-train careers into their 30s - 40s, age is just a number. Even my grandpa took an auto mechanic course at the college in his 70s. As long as you have a good work ethic and show up every day, you're already doing better than a lot of people.

Very true! Morale, work ethic and attitude are the foundation; everything else can be learned.

[MisterF80M3]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Communications majors can do PR, which is shaping public opinion these days. Plenty of opportunities. Can also go to law school or get into any kind of media.

Plenty of opportunities but how many of those opportunities are high paying jobs? How long will you have to work before you even see 6 figures with a communication major?

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by JP10

Some of the best engineers in Naval Shipbuilding came from the deckplates. Those who just have a degree usually fail when it comes to designing something practical for use. I'd prefer a PM with deckplate knowledge over a PM with a strict engineering background.

Yup.....




.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

Plenty of opportunities but how many of those opportunities are high paying jobs? How long will you have to work before you even see 6 figures with a communication major?

I’d guess there are many high paying jobs (six figures and above) in media, corporate communications, marketing communications, PR and other paths a communications major could take, such as HR, sales and legal.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Yup.....




.

How did you survive that cold water????

[MisterF80M3]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I’d guess there are many high paying jobs (six figures and above) in media, corporate communications, marketing communications, PR and other paths a communications major could take, such as HR, sales and legal.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for a Corporate Communications Specialist in the United States is $66,423 a year.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for a Marketing Communications Specialist in the United States is $53,823 a year.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for the Digital Media Communications jobs category in the United States is $60,504 a year.

These all fall in line with the median salary a communication major would make.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for the Communications Major jobs category in the United States is $62,427 a year.

[213e90n51]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for a Corporate Communications Specialist in the United States is $66,423 a year.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for a Marketing Communications Specialist in the United States is $53,823 a year.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for the Digital Media Communications jobs category in the United States is $60,504 a year.

These all fall in line with the median salary a communication major would make.

As of Sep 4, 2020, the average annual pay for the Communications Major jobs category in the United States is $62,427 a year.

Great. How can i live in Palo Verdes or Calabasas now .

[MisterF80M3]

80% makes less than 62,000 with majority of the salary between 30-50k.

It's not too late to switch major. Don't make the same mistake as my friends, who partied their ass off in college and chose the easiest major possible. My best friend who majored in communication currently gets paid less than my other friend that never went to college installing windows for sky scrapers.

[213e90n51]

Originally Posted by misterf80m3

80% makes less than 62,000 with majority of the salary between 30-50k.

It's not too late to switch major. Don't make the same mistake as my friends, who partied their ass off in college and chose the easiest major possible. My best friend who majored in communication currently gets paid less than my other friend that never went to college installing windows for sky scrapers.

aghhhhhhh. Is he a happy man?

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

80% makes less than 62,000 with majority of the salary between 30-50k.

It's not too late to switch major. Don't make the same mistake as my friends, who partied their ass off in college and chose the easiest major possible. My best friend who majored in communication currently gets paid less than my other friend that never went to college installing windows for sky scrapers.

The problem with those ziprecruiter graphs is they provide no context. Are these entry level salaries? Averages of all salaries? What level of experience is considered? I was an accounting major and can tell you the earning potential exceeds the ziprecruiter graph within a few years unless you suck at it (and many opportunities exist well beyond the upper end of their graph).

[MisterF80M3]

Originally Posted by 213e90n51

aghhhhhhh. Is he a happy man?

Not happy with the pay But overall he is fine. Gets to work for a tech company in SF with some decent perks and benefits but getting paid near minimum wage, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

The problem with those ziprecruiter graphs is they provide no context. Are these entry level salaries? Averages of all salaries? What level of experience is considered? I was an accounting major and can tell you the earning potential exceeds the ziprecruiter graph within a few years unless you suck at it (and many opportunities exist well beyond the upper end of their graph).

If you scroll down the page, there is a link that will lead you to how they calculate all that data. For communication major median salary, they calculated all that data from 200k available open positions right now. So this will include entry-level and senior level.

YMMV. There will be always outliers. But chances of you landing a six-figure job is extremely slim with a communication major, IMO.

[213e90n51]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

Not happy with the pay But overall he is fine. Gets to work for a tech company in SF with some decent perks and benefits but getting paid near minimum wage, unfortunately.

If you scroll down the page, there is a link that will lead you to how they calculate all that data. For communication major median salary, they calculated all that data from 200k available open positions right now. So this will include entry-level and senior level.

YMMV. There will be always outliers. But chances of you landing a six-figure job is extremely slim with a communication major, IMO.

Six figure pay is easy with trade? Dayum i wanted to be a brand ambassador or someone to represent the marketing aspect of a company.

[zx10guy]

I'd say this. If you can get the SA position at Subaru, I would go for it. This will give you experience in relating to people and selling. I don't know what you go through for a communications degree. I would think it is to relate and present a message to the public. This is a big part of being sales. You work at selling yourself as much as selling your product. I was highly successful with many of my accounts because my customers loved me.

And sales doesn't have to mean being a used car salesman. I'm the technical arm of my sales team. Every sales position I have had, I have always morphed the sales engineering position to something that I still have hands on experience. It's ironic because I hate sales people. And when I was the customer on the receiving end of sales people, I would despise dealing with them. I keep this in mind as I am now the sales guy. I miss being buried up to my eyeballs in IT projects in a data center. But not enough to go back and give up sales.

Sales provides a lot of advantages especially if you get into a good company. Through this whole pandemic situation, my income hasn't been all that affected. Depending on the sales job, you can be based at your home office as your primary location and only go into the office as needed. The sales jobs I've had all paid for mileage I racked up on my car, paid for parking, and tolls. Some of the companies gave me a monthly allowance to pay for my Internet service. I get to set my own schedule. Lots of flexibility.

And I have to say, I've made the most money in my career being in sales. The comp packages can be very lucrative and they are set up to give you an incentive to sell hard. One company I worked for did multipliers on your commissions payout when you exceed your quota number. After 100%, there was a 2x multiplier that lead into a 3x multiplier which then cut off at a certain point to return to a 1x payout. There were bonuses that were paid out to push certain products. I remember a bonus program I got which resulted in a 5 figures payout.

[wcr3d]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

How did you survive that cold water????

Lower left corner, just the hand waving, that’s him waving at us.

[Smgs1992]

Originally Posted by 213e90n51

Six figure pay is easy with trade? Dayum i wanted to be a brand ambassador or someone to represent the marketing aspect of a company.

Its very doable with a trade job. A good friends dad does custom cabinetry and he makes over $300k a year after taxes and expenses. Owns his own business zero employees

[chassis]

Factory work, in the right factory, pays into the six figures. It often requires 60 hours per week. Mid $30s per hour plus overtime for a worker with experience. Not entry level/off the street. Tesla Gigafactory is a suggestion in the western US.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

How did you survive that cold water????

I grew up in Buffalo. If you can't play hockey on it, the water isn't too cold!

Speaking of jobs, did you know that the average salary for choo-choo train drivers is over $93K? Random pee tests get you a decent pay, RRB retirement (not Social Security), and an awesome "office" window view if you wind up doing long-haul freight runs:

https://www.salary.com/research/sala...ngineer-salary

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by 213e90n51

Is it to late to start trade school at 21 or work at a trade ?

Not at all. Takes a little time to work through certifications and everything but you are working and getting paid while doing so. My 21 year old cousin just became a power linesman journeyman and probably makes ~150k a year with all of the storm pay and overtime!

[213e90n51]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Not at all. Takes a little time to work through certifications and everything but you are working and getting paid while doing so. My 21 year old cousin just became a power linesman journeyman and probably makes ~150k a year with all of the storm pay and overtime!

Jeezus. You can buy a house if u save up 5 years and stay with your parents